PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers and All-Star guard Ben Simmons have agreed to a $170 million, five-year contract extension, the team announced in a statement Tuesday.
Simmons was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016. He made his NBA debut in the 2017-18 season and was the Rookie of the Year. He was an All-Star for the first time last season. He has averaged 16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists in his two seasons.
Philadelphia is 101-58 in regular-season games when Simmons plays. He has had 22 triple-doubles in the past two seasons, tied for third most in the league with Denver’s Nikola Jokic and trailing Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (59) and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (26).
Simmons also has had 80 double-doubles over the past two seasons.
“Ben Simmons is an important piece of our core and he is one of the NBA’s most dynamic and talented young players,” Sixers General Manager Elton Brand said in the statement.
“It was a priority for our organization that we finalize a contract extension with Ben this summer. He was Rookie of the Year in his first season, an All-Star in his second and we expect him to continue grow and succeed for seasons to come. Ben positively impacts the game in so many ways and we look forward to continuing our championship pursuits with him as one of our leaders.”
KINGS: Sacramento has signed free agent forward Richaun Holmes, GM Vlade Divac announced. The Athletic reported that Holmes will be paid $10 million over two seasons.
Holmes averaged 8.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game last season for Phoenix. He also shot 60.8% from the field.
Holmes has played four seasons with Philadelphia and the Suns. He has a career average of 7.7 points per game.
SUNS: Forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has signed a multiyear deal, the team said.
Phoenix acquired Oubre in a trade with the Wizards for veteran Trevor Ariza last December. He averaged 16.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 40 games with the Suns to go with his energy on defense. The four-year pro led the NBA in steals per game with 2.1 after the All-Star break, to go with 20.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.
PELICANS: Forward Brandon Ingram says he’s “pretty close” to resuming normal workouts as he recovers from surgery to address a blood clot in his right arm.
Ingram said he has not resumed shooting, but has worked on his shooting form and conducted ball-handling and passing drills, as well as lower-body workouts.
Ingram did not give a specific timeline for his return to full basketball activities.
Ingram was traded to New Orleans by the Lakers this offseason as part of a multi-player and multi-draft pick deal for six-time All-Star Anthony Davis.
KNICKS: The team finalized contracts with Marcus Morris and Reggie Bullock, two of their offseason additions.
The forwards join Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton and Wayne Ellington as free agents who the Knicks hope will improve what was the NBA’s worst team last season.
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